Brain Game (1972 game show)

Last updated
Brain Game
Directed byValerie Jackson-Sims
StarringChuck Lofton
JudgesDr. Matthew Shaw
Country of originUnited States
Production
Running time30 minutes
Release
Original network WTHR (NBC)
Original release1972 (1972) –
present

The Brain Game is a weekly quiz bowl show for high school students that airs on NBC-affiliate WTHR-13 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Originally called Exercise in Knowledge when introduced in 1972 (under the station's prior call letters, WLWI), [1] the Brain Game is currently broadcast at 7 pm on Saturdays, and is hosted by WTHR morning meteorologist Chuck Lofton. It is sponsored by Westfield Insurance, which also sponsors four other high school quiz shows. [2] The show is filmed at the WTHR studios on Meridian Street in Indianapolis. The Brain Game has been filmed in HD since 2008.

Contents

Chuck Lofton has hosted the Brain Game since 2013, taking over for meteorologist Chris Wright who hosted from 2000 to 2013. Bob Gregory hosted for 28 years, [3] from the show's start in 1972 [4] until 2000. Until 2008 the show was filmed at the Fairbanks Center at Butler University.

The Brain Game was nominated for a Regional Emmy in 2001 for best On Camera Talent - Non News, [5] in 2003 for best Children/Youth Program - Regularly Scheduled, [6] in 2004 for best Children/Youth Program - Regularly Scheduled, [7] and in 2007 for best Children/Youth Program. [8]

Due to renovations at the WTHR-13 TV station, the 2017-18 Brain Game season will be on hiatus. The Westfield Insurance group has pulled sponsorship of the contest.

Rules

Two teams of four players each compete during each show. Teams may buzz in and attempt to answer at any time while a question is being read. Team members may not confer prior to answering. Questions are selected by the show's judge, Dr. Matthew Shaw from the University of Indianapolis, who took over from Dr. David Wantz from the University of Indianapolis. Dr. Phil Young from the University of Indianapolis was the judge from the early 1990s until his death on January 7, 2009. [9] Don Hanlin, founder of the White River Academic League and Indiana Quiz Bowl, [10] and Christine Guyonneau of the University of Indianapolis were the interim judges.

The overall format of the show is a single-elimination tournament with five rounds. The bracket involves 48 teams playing 47 matches in 31 episodes; episodes of the first round of the season consist of two fifteen-minute matches with the winner of the first match playing the bye team in the second match. Games in the next four rounds of the tournament have two teams competing the entire thirty minutes.

Format

The show's format consists of approximately 120 questions drawn from many topics, each worth one point. About 75 of these are general toss-ups for all players. Special questions are also asked throughout the show.

Minute quiz - The team in the lead going into the minute quiz selects either packet A or packet B. They are then given one minute (thirty seconds in the first round) to answer as many one-point questions as possible. Questions may be passed, but they will not be returned to. When time is up, the host will finish the last question and the team still has a chance to answer. The other team then has the remaining packet of questions. There is one minute quiz per match. Teammates may confer, and the captain must give all responses.

Face-off - Each episode has two face-off rounds, in which four questions all related to a single topic are asked. However, each question is given to only one player on each team.

Bonus qualifier - There are usually four bonus qualifiers per episode. A general question, usually slightly harder than other questions, is asked, worth one point. The first team to correctly respond earns a more difficult bonus question that is worth two points, that is similar in category to the question that was answered. Teammates may confer, and the captain must give all responses. Only the team that answered the qualifier question has a chance for the two bonus points.

Who am I? - This is a three-part question that the host reads in first person. If a player can correctly identify the person after hearing only the first part of the question, he scores three points for the team, after the second part two points, and the third part one point. "Who am I?" is not asked in the first round.

Three-point judge's question - This is one part and is worth three points. It is generally one of the hardest questions of the game and is specially written by the judge. It is usually asked toward the end of the match. The three-point judge's question is not asked in the first round.

Participants and winners

Teams that participate in Brain Game come from the WTHR viewing area in Central Indiana.

Recent champions

Years are listed based on when the school year started, e.g. 2006 for the 2006–2007 school year. [11]

YearWinnerRunner-up
1988 Scecina Memorial High School 54 Carmel High School 52
1989Scecina 54 Lawrence Central High School 42
1990 Shelbyville High School 68 Lawrence North High School 42
1991 Perry Meridian High School 78 Franklin Central High School 56
1992Perry Meridian 62 Noblesville High School 50
1993Perry Meridian 86Lawrence North 52
1994 Park Tudor School 86Lawrence Central 52
1995 Cathedral High School 72Perry Meridian 46
1996 Southport High School 74Cathedral 52
1997Park Tudor 68 Westfield High School 44
1998Perry Meridian 75 Center Grove High School 62
1999Park Tudor 80 North Central High School 64
2000Park Tudor 70Southport 38
2001Park Tudor 141Cathedral 59
2002Park Tudor 70Southport 38
2003Park Tudor 74 Pike High School 63
2004Park Tudor 45 Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School 42
2005Brebeuf Jesuit 70 Warren Central High School 40
2006Brebeuf Jesuit 50Cathedral 38
2007Pike 45Franklin Central 38
2008Center Grove 47Franklin Central 43
2009 Zionsville Community High School 46 Hamilton Southeastern High School 42
2010 Cardinal Ritter High School 47Hamilton Southeastern 44
2011North Central 38Cardinal Ritter 33
2012North Central 40Carmel 36
2013North Central 39 Avon High School 36
2014North Central 48 Zionsville Community High School 31
2015North Central 35 Anderson High School 34

Prizes

Westfield Insurance sponsors the Brain Game and provides cash prizes for the schools of the top eight winning teams. The first-place team earns $4,000 for the school, and the runner-up earns $3,000. The two semi-finalists each receive $2,500. The four teams that lost in the quarterfinals, fifth place to eighth place, receive $2,000 each. This money is meant for the school's general academic fund; 20% of the funds may be used for the Brain Game team, with the remainder to be used for library resources, safety or community development or used to fulfill a need that the school and Westfield Insurance can agree upon. [12] The championship team also receives the Bob Gregory Trophy with a plaque, and finalists receive plaques. Each team in the top eight also receives a small stipend from WTHR-13 to fund a thank-you party for participating in the program. All players in most rounds also receive small prizes for their participation, such as backpacks, hats, water bottles, USB drives, sweatshirts, or blankets that have the Brain Game or Westfield Insurance logo on them. If a team wins three years in a row (North Central High School was the last one), they keep the Bob Gregory Trophy for their school.

Notable players

Ron Klain, Chief of Staff to Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden, was on the North Central High School team that won runner-up in the 1978–79 season. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game show</span> Type of television or radio program where contestants compete for prizes

A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sharing the rules of the program as well as commentating and narrating where necessary. The history of game shows dates back to the invention of television as a medium. On most game shows, contestants either have to answer questions or solve puzzles, typically to win either money or prizes. Game shows often reward players with prizes such as cash, trips and goods and services provided by the show's sponsor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quiz bowl</span> Academic quiz-based competition

Quiz bowl is a family of quiz-based competitions that test players on a wide variety of academic subjects. Standardized quiz bowl formats are played by lower school, middle school, high school, and university students throughout North America, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Africa.

<i>College Bowl</i> Trivia game show

College Bowl is a radio, television, and student quiz show. College Bowl first aired on the NBC Radio Network in 1953 as College Quiz Bowl. It then moved to American television broadcast networks, airing from 1959 to 1963 on CBS and from 1963 to 1970 on NBC. In 1977, the president of College Bowl, Richard Reid, developed it into a non-televised national championship competition on campuses across America through an affiliation with the Association of College Unions International (ACUI), which lasted for 31 years. In 1989, College Bowl introduced a (sponsored) version of College Bowl for Historically Black Colleges (HBCUs) called Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC) which is ongoing. In 2007, College Bowl produced a new version and format of the game as an international championship in Africa, called Africa Challenge. The College Bowl Campus Program and National Championship ran until 2008.

<i>Its Academic</i> American quiz show

It's Academic is the name for a number of televised academic student quiz shows for high school students through the United States and internationally. It's Academic programs have notably aired on NBC-owned WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., NBC affiliate WVIR-TV in Charlottesville, Virginia, and CBS-owned WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland.

<i>Reach for the Top</i> Canadian high school quizbowl

Reach for the Top is a Canadian academic quiz competition for high school students. In the past, it has also been a game show nationally broadcast on the CBC. Matches are currently aired online through Reach for the Top's official YouTube channel. Teams qualify for national rounds through several stages of non-televised tournaments held at high schools throughout Canada during the year which are known as Schoolreach.

The National Science Bowl (NSB) is a high school and middle school science knowledge competition, using a quiz bowl format, held in the United States. A buzzer system similar to those seen on popular television game shows is used to signal an answer. The competition has been organized and sponsored by the United States Department of Energy since its inception in 1991.

Trump Card is an American syndicated game show that aired from September 10, 1990, to May 24, 1991, hosted by Jimmy Cefalo. Debi Massey served as hostess and Chuck Riley was the announcer. The show was produced by Telepictures Productions, Createl, Ltd., and Fiedler-Berlin Productions, with Warner Bros. Television distributing. It was based on the British game show Bob's Full House, which consisted of contestants trying to answer questions to fill up a 15-square bingo board.

Scholastic Scrimmage is a high school quiz bowl game show, launched in 1975. It airs on WLVT-TV, the PBS affiliate for the Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania.

Bible Quiz, also known as Bible Bowl or Bible Quizzing, is a quiz-bowl competition based on Bible memorization and study. The competition takes place between teams, and participants are quizzed on the content of a pre-determined section of the Bible. They are a popular activity in some Protestant churches and organizations, particularly in the United States. The exact rules of the game differ depending on the sponsoring organization.

As Schools Match Wits is a high school quiz show, hosted by Beth Ward, that airs on PBS member station WGBY in Springfield, Massachusetts, and which is produced in association with Westfield State University. As Schools Match Wits is well known throughout Western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut.

Bay Area Quiz Kids is an academic quiz public-access television show for San Francisco Bay Area high schools. From the start in 1999 it has been hosted by Brad Friedman, the Drama Director at San Mateo High School.

Brain Game is a weekly quiz bowl-type show for high school students that airs on NBC affiliate WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina. The program debuted January 11, 1997, when WRAL-TV was a CBS affiliate. It currently airs at 11 a.m. on Saturdays, and the current host is former WRAL traffic reporter Mark Roberts. Early programs were hosted by WRAL weathercaster Greg Fishel.

Pick Your Brain is an American syndicated game show that featured children as contestants. The series ran on weekends for one year, debuting on September 18, 1993 and running until May 21, 1994. Pick Your Brain was created by Marc Summers, who also served as its host and executive producer. He was assisted by a giant robot named 2-XL, based on the Tiger Electronics toy of the same name and voiced by Greg Berg.

<i>Schools Challenge</i> TV series or program

Schools' Challenge is the national general knowledge competition for schools in the United Kingdom, founded by Colin Galloway in 1978. It uses the same quiz bowl rules as University Challenge, although it is affiliated with neither the game nor the television show. Schools Challenge is divided into Senior and Junior competitions.

Quick Recall is an academic quiz bowl competition comparable found in several states of the United States of America. Quick Recall, featuring 2 halves of tossup and bonus questions, is used primarily for traditional academic competition in Kentucky. In Ohio, Quick Recall is different as it offers two rounds of team questions, then an alphabet round in which all answers start with the same letter, and ending with a lightning round. The Kentucky state tournament is officiated by the KAAC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ONN</span> Television channel

The Ohio News Network (ONN) – also referred to off-air as ONN Radio – is a radio news service in the U.S. state of Ohio. Based at Columbus, Ohio radio station WBNS-FM and owned by Dispatch Broadcast Group, It provides statewide newscasts and sportscasts for more than 90 affiliate stations throughout the day, in addition to some seasonal long-form programming.

The Quiz League of London (QLL) is a British quiz league based in London. Founded in 1990 as the Quiz League of South London, it was southern England's first independent self-administered quiz league. The matches themselves are mostly hosted at pubs or social clubs, though the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to play its matches online. The following season (2021-22) saw a return to matches in person.

Whiz Quiz is a local TV program produced by WPBS-TV in Watertown, New York. It invites over 30 high-schools from across the North Country to participate in a quizbowl-style tournament. It debuted in 1980, and has been on the air since. The show airs on WPBS Mondays through Thursdays at 7:30 p.m in the months of October and November. The American Championship Game starts at 8:00 p.m. The Championship Match is an hour-long show, with double the amount of questions.

Battle of the Brains was a Philippine quiz show which aired on RPN 9 from 1992 to 2001 and on PTV 4 in 2001. Considered one of the most culturally influential locally produced shows of the 1990s, Battle of the Brains was open to all elementary, high school and college students nationwide.

<i>BrainSurge</i> American childrens TV game show

BrainSurge is an American children's game show that aired on Nickelodeon and was hosted by Jeff Sutphen. The show taped its first season in February 2009, and debuted on September 28, 2009. The show's format was adapted from the Japanese game show Brain Survivor. The U.S. version was created by Scott A. Stone, co-creator of Legends of the Hidden Temple, and Clay Newbill, executive producer of The Mole.

References

  1. ↑ ""Retro: Indianapolis/Lafayette/Terre Haute Sat 3/6/76" (1972)". Streamline Digital, Inc. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  2. ↑ "Westfield Insurance: About Us: Sponsorships: High School Scholastic Competitions". Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
  3. ↑ "Bob Gregory: SkyTrak Weather". WTHR. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  4. ↑ ""Brain Game" (1972)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  5. ↑ "2001 Cleveland Regional Emmy Nominations" . Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  6. ↑ "Emmy Nominations for Broadcast Year 2003". National Television Academy Cleveland Regional Chapter. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  7. ↑ "Emmy Nominations for Broadcast Year 2004". National Television Academy Cleveland Regional Chapter. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  8. ↑ "Emmy Nominations for Broadcast Year 2007". National Television Academy Cleveland Regional Chapter. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  9. ↑ "Campus mourns loss of popular library director". University of Indianapolis. January 8, 2009. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  10. ↑ "Home". inqblots.org.
  11. ↑ "Westfield Insurance Brain Game". 19 June 2002.
  12. ↑ "Westfield Insurance Brain Game Grants". Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
  13. ↑ Rklain. "The Brain Game". Flickr. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.